3 Amp+ per channel SSR?

Uncle Al

Uncle Al

New member
For 2013 I am switching from LOR controllers over to Renard SS24's and some SSR's in my display. All of the SSR's that I have looked at are limited to 2 amps per channel max. I have a few channels in my display that pull 2.1 amps. Are there any SSR's that will handle at least 3 amps or more per channel? Any Renard boards that will?
 
That's one of the reasons I've kept the LOR controllers in my display; current handling capabilities of 8 amps per channel. Most of my AC channels are now Renard controlled, but there are those few that I fall back on my LOR controllers for, because of this.

In other words, I don't have a good answer for you. I know that RJ's Lynx Express controllers are rated for 8 amps per channel as well but I already have the LOR controllers.

According to the write-up in the wiki, the SS24 is limited to 2 amps per channel due to the size of the PCB trace. You may be able to augment these traces with a jumper wire in parallel with the traces, but others may have already had experience with this, and I hope they speak up.

I would definitely use the heat sink, perhaps with adding some thermal grease.
 
SSRez will do handle more than 2A per channel with heatsinks...however the overall load on the SSRez (4 channels)
needs to be 8A max.
 
The 4 port SSR with the most copper available to you is the SSRneon-G2-LED.
The AC traces on the board were 'doubled' by having an AC trace on the top and the bottom of the board. The are both 2oz copper thereby giving you an effective 4 ounce copper trace.
I don't know of another DIYC SSR with this much copper available.
Here's the link the the wiki entry: http://www.doityourselfchristmas.com/wiki/index.php?title=SSRneon-G2-LED
Greg Bartlett is looking to run a group buy for these soon. I would PM Greg (gmbartlett) and discuss this with him in terms of driving 2.1 amps per channel. He can tell you the design specs of the AC traces.
If this doesn't work, you are looking at using 'hockey puck' SSRs which can be found to support 15+ amps. They are a per channel option and therefore get expensive.
 
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Thanks for the suggestions. I will look at the SSRez's and SSRneon-G2-LED's a bit closer. The 2.1 amp channels are on my icicles. They blink a lot during the show but I keep them on constant overnight for 9+ hours. If I have time this year I could divide the icicles up into individual strings per channel to get the amps down but that would be more SPT2 wire and more SSR channels. Any recommendations on the "hockey pucks"? I will look at those too.
 
Uncle Al said:
Thanks for the suggestions. I will look at the SSRez's and SSRneon-G2-LED's a bit closer. The 2.1 amp channels are on my icicles. They blink a lot during the show but I keep them on constant overnight for 9+ hours. If I have time this year I could divide the icicles up into individual strings per channel to get the amps down but that would be more SPT2 wire and more SSR channels. Any recommendations on the "hockey pucks"? I will look at those too.
Click to expand...

I run 600 ct icicles on my SSRez all the time .33*6 = 1.98A without heat sinks all the time.
 
I seem to recall a renard with heavier traces...like HC or something? I can't find info now, but I don't think I was dreaming...
 
A few years ago I'd made myself some 120v SSR's for that type of thing LOL
My controllers (home-built stuff) are 2a / channel...
sometimes I need more than that so I still put a small load on the channel, then plug the 120v ssr-box into it as well (then I have up to 12a handling :) )
 
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Making a 3A SSR isn't rocket science. Bigger/thicker traces, heftier triac (possibly), heat sink... No biggie really. The reason we don't have that as a regular board is because there's so little demand for it. With the push to LEDs and pixels, a 3A A/C SSR is a pretty rare thing... Sure isn't hard to make though.
 
dirknerkle said:
Making a 3A SSR isn't rocket science. Bigger/thicker traces, heftier triac (possibly), heat sink... No biggie really. The reason we don't have that as a regular board is because there's so little demand for it. With the push to LEDs and pixels, a 3A A/C SSR is a pretty rare thing... Sure isn't hard to make though.
Click to expand...

I'm still all incandescent and probably will be for awhile so I may on occasion pull a few extra amps. I really like the thought of engineering and fabricating a custom board from scratch. That is something I have never attempted. Work keeps me pretty tied up and with all of the Renard and DirkCheap SSR's I'm building this year a custom board project will just have to wait.
 
dirknerkle said:
Making a 3A SSR isn't rocket science. Bigger/thicker traces, heftier triac (possibly), heat sink... No biggie really. The reason we don't have that as a regular board is because there's so little demand for it. With the push to LEDs and pixels, a 3A A/C SSR is a pretty rare thing... Sure isn't hard to make though.
Click to expand...

Maybe not rocket science, but not totally straightforward either. The biggest issue is not bigger/thicker traces (this is just the first hurtle), but probably thermal management. Four channels at 4A each, for example, translates to approximately 16W that are dissipated by the triacs as heat. If the SSR is located out of doors, that almost certainly would mean melted snow around whatever enclosure the SSR is mounted in, which in turn means water, and the need to keep it away from the electrical circuitry. And this probably means a sealed enclosure, which means that it gets quite hot inside...and the triac junctions are even hotter. And that means that you probably need to measure the actual temperature of each of the triac cases to make sure that the junction temperature is within limits. All in all, a moderate amount of engineering is needed to make sure that the things will work reliably in the field when they are deployed by others.

Using those SSRs in a protected environment is a bit easier. Care must still be taken to ensure that there is enough air circulation around the SSRs, and that little fingers are protected from the heat, and that there isn't anything flammable close to them in case the SSRs overheat or somehow self-destruct.
 
kingofkya said:
Why not just get a few SSR and rig it up to a regular SSR board. IF its a rare need like this may as well take what exesits and just make it work.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/Solid-State...582?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4d07f2c19e
Click to expand...

Yep - that is the way to go (perhaps not that specific one but similar) - they are very simple to hook up to a RenardSimple32 or Ren64 - just be sure you get one that supports "random-cross" and not "zero-cross" (I know that sounds counter-intuitive but that's what you want). The random-cross versions dim whereas the zero-cross do not. Also review the current requirements to turn them on as you are limited to some degree by the outputs of the PIC. With these you get a very safe and high-amperage setup.
 
Hi All -
I have a similar problem. I am looking for (2) 5 AMP SSR to work with a Renard SS24. I don't need the lights to dim but it would be nice if possible.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
 
The Crydom D2440D-10 datasheet that the description says it equivalent to.. lists it as having an SCR output rather than a Triac.


For hookup..Renard channels have a sinking (negative) output. Pins 2,4,6 & 8 would go to each pucks negative control terminal. Pin 1 +5v supply is common and would go to all the pucks positive control terminal's.


Copied from the Wiki :

Controller Output (SSR Input)

RJ45 controller outputs should be pinned out as follows:
Pin 1 - +5v supply
Pin 2 - Channel 1 output
Pin 3 - reserved
Pin 4 - Channel 2 output
Pin 5 - reserved
Pin 6 - Channel 3 output
Pin 7 - Ground
Pin 8 - Channel 4 output

-Craig
 
If you are not worried about dimming, you could also use a PCH-2la106s (or similar). This is a 110/110 volt AC (mechanical) relay. You could use a regular Renard to turn on anything up to 10 amps. Clyde Dearing demonstrated these at the EXPO.

Downside is you have to run a second AC line to power the prop (or lights)
 

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If your looking to connect to the low-voltage side of a Renard, go with what Reddy_Kilowatt said (I don't know enough of how it works... I only recently got some Renard controller boards & SSR boards, and haven't done anymore than solder on the IC sockets & a few resistors)

When I built 120v SSR's I did them as a stand-alone unit (so could be plugged into any controller (and if necessary put on a separate breaker to split up loads)). Oh and also "built my own" with a triac/opto-isolator/resistors/etc, rather than buying a pre-built unit like the hockey-puck ones.
 
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